1. أثابَ وأقصرَ عن جهلهِ

    وعرَّى المَطيَّةَ من رَحلهِ

    He returned to his senses and desisted from his folly.

    And stripped the mount of his saddle.

  2. وألبسَهُ الشيبُ ثوبَ النهى

    وذادَ الغوانِيَ عن وَصلهِ

    Gray hair clothed him in the robe of wisdom.

    And drove fair women away from intimacy with him.

  3. وما سرَّهُنَّ بخور العذا

    رِ منهُ حتى المطا كهلهِ

    Nor did they delight in the incense of his side-

    burns [unclear wording: 'from him, until the back, his middle age'].

  4. وكانَ الشبابُ له صاحباً

    على جدِّهِ وعلى هَزلهِ

    Youth had been his companion,

    In his earnestness and in his jest.

  5. فَعاصاهُ حينَ أطاعَ المَشي

    بَ وأضحى الصبا ليس من أهلهِ

    But it defied him when he obeyed gray

    hair, and youthful ardor was no longer of his company.

  6. وأعدى الزمانُ بهِ صرفه

    كما كانَ يحطِبُ في حبلهِ

    Time turned its vicissitudes against him,

    As once it had gathered firewood in his rope.

  7. وبدلَ من حالهِ حالةً

    تليهِ ومن كانَ من قبلهِ

    And replaced his condition with another

    That follows him and those who came before him.

  8. كذاكَ الفتَى وكَذا العاذِلا

    تُ ترحضُ قادمَتي نعلهِ

    Such is the young man; so do the reproaching

    women wash the two foreparts of his sandal.

  9. وأيُّ أخي عسرةٍ أوغنىً

    طواهُ الجديدُ فلم يَبلهِ

    And what man, in hardship or prosperity,

    Has time engulfed without wearing him away?

  10. سَيبلى الجديدُ ويَبلى البلي

    ويذهبُ ما كانَ من نسلهِ

    The new will wear away, and the worn will decay,

    And whatever sprang from his offspring will disappear.

  11. أقلِّي ملامك إِنِّي امرؤٌ

    حريبٌ معَ الدمعِ في سبلهِ

    Lessen your reproach; I am a man

    Bereft, with tears as they flow.

  12. وعِشتُ بِحالينِ في كرِّه

    على خصبهِ وعلى محلهِ

    I have lived in two conditions through time's turning,

    In its abundance and in its drought.

  13. وذقت بكفي في حالتي

    من صابهِ وجنى نحلهِ

    With my own hand I tasted, in both my states,

    Its bitter sap and the harvest of its bees.

  14. فلم أكتئِب عندَ وَعثائهِ

    ولم أمرحِ العيشَ في سهلهِ

    Yet I did not despair amid its hardships,

    Nor did I revel in life when its way was smooth.

  15. فكنتُ كمن أحرزَ المكرما

    تِ وأنسبُ فَرعاً على أصلهِ

    So I was like one who secured noble

    deeds, and I trace a branch back to its root.

  16. أحبُّ الكريمَ وأجزي اللئي

    مَ بسجلِ اللئامِ على فعلهِ

    I love the noble and repay the base

    man for his deeds with the bucket of the base.

  17. وكلّ امرئٍ متحت كفُّهُ

    ستَشربُ ما كانَ في سجلهِ

    And every man whose hand has drawn water

    Will drink what lay in his own bucket.

  18. يعودُ الملامُ إلى أهلهِ

    ويبدا الثناءُ إلى أهلهِ

    Reproach returns to those who deserve it,

    And praise comes forth to those who deserve it.

  19. فَهذا لِهذا وَهذا لذاك

    على جُودهِ وعلى بُخلهِ

    This is for this one, and this for that one,

    For his generosity and for his stinginess.

  20. بعضبٍ كَذي النونِ أو ذِي الفقارِ

    تزلُّ الأوابدُ عن نَصلهِ

    With a keen blade like Dhu al-Nun or Dhu al-Fiqar,

    The untamed slip away from its edge.

  21. إذا ما انتضتهُ مُهماتُه

    لِهَذِّ الضرائبِ من جدلهِ

    When his pressing concerns unsheathe it

    To hew through targets with its firmness,

  22. رأيت لهُ رَونقاً كالس

    سِوارِ باليدِ يُخبرُ عن فضلهِ

    You see in it a brilliance like a

    bracelet on the hand, proclaiming its excellence.

  23. تباري الذئابُ عداه الضراب

    مزيل للوصلِ عن وصلهِ

    The wolves vie with his foes in combat [wording unclear],

    It severs joints from their joining.

  24. إذا أَعمدته يدا فكن

    بناه الضَّمير على صقلهِ

    If you prop it upright with a hand, then be—[wording unclear].

    Inner thought built it upon its polish.

  25. يعبرُ عني ولا مسهبٌ

    ولا عازبُ الحلمِ عن جهلهِ

    It speaks for me, neither long-winded,

    Nor with its reason absent amid its folly.

  26. مدلٍّ بعزمٍ يقينِ الظنو

    نِ يبدِّدهُ رائِيا عقلهِ

    Confident in resolve, certain in its conjectures,

    The two seers of its mind disperse it [wording unclear].

  27. جريء الجنانِ كحدِّ السنا

    نِ في نقضِ أمرٍ وفي فتلهِ

    Bold of heart, like the edge of a spear-

    point, in unraveling a matter and twisting it tight.

  28. وما الليثُ في غيلهِ مخدراً

    على سيدهِ وعلى ختلهِ

    Nor is the lion, lying in its forest lair,

    Against its master and in its stealth,

  29. يمنعُ عقوتَهُ بالطِّرادِ

    ويَنفي بها الضَّيم عن شبلهِ

    Defending its precinct by driving intruders off,

    And warding oppression away from its cub,

  30. بأجرأ منه إذا ما الشجا

    عُ لم يحتمله قوى زجلهِ

    Bolder than he, when a brave

    man cannot withstand the force of his clamour.

  31. بدارِ الحفاظِ له منزلٌ

    يذودُ يدَ الدَّهرِ عن نقلهِ

    He has a dwelling in the abode of steadfast loyalty,

    Repelling time's hand from moving him.

  32. منيعُ الحِمى مانعٌ للزما

    نِ من يبلهُ صالحاً يُبلهِ

    Impregnable in his precinct, a barrier to time,

    Whoever does him good, he repays.

  33. أخو الأخِ إن مَدَّهُ ندبُهُ

    فإِن يقصهِ عن قِلىً يقلهِ

    A brother to his brother, if his willing ally supports him;

    But if he distances him out of hatred, he hates him.

  34. كَذاك الكريمُ أخو الأكرَمي

    نَ ومن جمع المجدَ من سهلهِ

    Such is the noble man, brother to the noblest

    men, and to whoever has gathered glory by its easy path.

  35. ألا أيها المحرزُ المكرماتِ

    والمربعُ الجود في بذلهِ

    Hear me, you who have secured noble deeds,

    And made generosity flourish through your giving,

  36. سليلُ شقيقِ الندى ثابتٍ

    ومن لا يشارُ إلى مثلهِ

    Scion of Thabit, bounty's brother,

    And one whose like cannot be pointed to,

  37. سَماحاً وَعزاً وأكرومةً

    تدلُّ العِقالَ على رَحلهِ

    In generosity, might, and noble honor,

    Guiding the camel's tethering cord toward his saddle.

  38. سَمِيُّ النبي ومن كفهُ

    تجيرُ أخا الدهرِ من أجلهِ

    Namesake of the Prophet, and one whose hand

    Shelters time's brother from his appointed end.

  39. إليكَ جوابٌ لفاهُ امرؤٌ

    يحبُّ الكريمَ على فضلهِ

    To you, a reply found by a man

    Who loves the noble for his excellence.

  40. فَلستُ كَمَن مد يبغي الندى

    لإبداء أمرٍ إلى حلِّهِ

    For I am not one who reaches out seeking bounty

    To lay a matter out for its resolution.

  41. ولكن رأيتكَ مستأهلاً

    لودّي قوياً علَى حملهِ

    But I found you worthy

    Of my affection, strong enough to bear it.

  42. فودُّ الكريمِ يعودُ اللئيم

    ويَضعفُ رُكناهُ عن حملهِ

    For a noble man's affection comes upon the base man,

    And his two supports are too weak to bear it.

  43. وإنِّي من اللهِ في نعمةٍ

    وإياهُ أسألُ من فضلهِ

    And I enjoy a blessing from God,

    And it is He whom I ask for His bounty.